bridge, built in the year 1485, of 17 Gothic arches, and 320 feet long,
in the parish of EGLESHALE, is _Peucarrow_, the handsome seat of Sir
Arscott O’Molesworth, Bart. The house has lately undergone a complete
repair, and is fitted up in an elegant style, with a good library,
billiard room, and the usual comforts attached to a gentleman’s
residence. Here are also a few good pictures, but mostly portraits. The
gardens and hot-houses are very beautiful, and kept in excellent order.
In the _Church_ of Egleshale, is a very handsome carved stone pulpit,
and a neat monument to the memory of Sir John Molesworth and his lady.
The road from hence to Camelford, a distance of 11 miles, contains
little to interest the traveller, excepting perhaps, the celebrated
_Slate Quarry_ of _Delabole_, in the parish of St. Teath, and which has
been already described in page 7.
The town of CAMELFORD is a place of considerable antiquity, and has
returned members to Parliament, since the reign of Edward VI. The right
of election is vested in the freemen, and the town is governed by a
Mayor and eight Burgesses.
Although it is a place of but little trade, yet it has a market weekly,
and four fairs annually, at which great quantities of cattle are bought
and sold.
The _Town Hall_ is a neat structure, built a few years ago, at the
expense of the late Duke of Bedford.
According to tradition, the neighbourhood of Camelford is remarkable as
having been the site of a memorable battle fought between King Arthur
and his treacherous nephew, Mordred; in which the former was slain, and
his troops routed with considerable loss.
About five miles north-west of Camelford, is TINTAGELL, in which parish,
the small Borough-town of BOSSINEY is situated; but as far as regards
appearances, this town can only rank as a village of the meanest
description, although it has returned members since the reign of Edward
VI. It contains about 140 houses, but the number of voters seldom exceed
14 or 15, the right of election being chiefly confined to certain
individuals possessing the property.
Among its noble representatives are ranked the great Sir Francis Drake,
Sir Thomas Cottington, Secretary of State to Charles I., and Sir Richard
Weston, afterwards Earl of Portland and Lord Treasurer in the same
reign.[33] But the most interesting circumstance relative to Tintagell,
is its being the reputed birth-place of the renowned King Arthur;
respecting whom, it was the opinion of Lord Chancellor Bacon, that there
was truth enough in history to make him famous, besides that which was
fabulous. His history, however, has been so blended with the marvellous,
by the monkish historians, that some authors have been disposed to doubt
even his having ever existed; and certainly the circumstances connected
with his asserted birth at Tintagell, are not among those parts of his
story which are most entitled to credit.
The certainty, however, that there has been a _Castle_ at this place,
cannot be imaginary, even if we only judge from the ruins now existing;
but as far as regards its origin, there are many different accounts, and
none, perhaps, whose authority can be relied on. That there should have
been a castle erected here, in the time of the antients, is very
probable, as few places are so well calculated for the mode of warfare
then in practice. The commanding and open situation of this spot, with
other concurrent circumstances, leave but little doubt that this
fortress was erected long previous to the Conquest. “The ruins now
existing, consist of two divisions, one scattered over the face of the
main promontory, and another over the peninsula, which is severed from
it. The walls of the former are garetted and pierced with many little
square holes, for the discharge of arrows. They seem to have included
within them, two narrow courts. At the upper end of the most southern of
them, are the remains of several stone steps, leading probably to the
parapet of the walls. Here the ramparts were high and strong, this being
the quarter overlooked by the neighbouring hill. As they wound round to
the west, however, less labour had been expended upon their structure,
for a hideous precipice of 300 feet deep, to the edge of which they were
carried, prevented the fear of any assault in that quarter. The works on
the peninsula had been anciently connected with those on the mainland,
by a draw-bridge thrown across the chasm, in the division above
mentioned.”[34] This however had gone to decay in Leland’s time, and the
only means of approaching this part are by a dangerous and narrow
ascent, winding up the cliffs on the western side.
Leland’s description is curious.—“This castelle hath bene a marvelus
strong and notable forteres, and almost _situ loci inexpugnabile_,
especially for the dungeon, that is on a great high terrible cragge,
environed with the se, but having a draw-bridge from the residew of the
castelle unto it. There is yet a chapel standing withyn this dungeon of
S. Ulette _alias_ Ulianne. Shepe now fede within the dungeon. The
residew of the buildinges of the castel be sore wetherbeten and yn
ruine, but it hath beene a large thinge.” In another place he says—“The
castel had be lykhod three wardes, wherof two be woren away with gulfing
yn of the se: withowte the isle renneth alonly a gate howse, a walle,
and a fals braye dyged and walled. In the isle remayne old walles, and
yn the est parte of the same, the grownd beyng lower, remayneth a walle
embatteled, and men alyve saw ther yn a postern, a dore of yren. There
is in the isle a prety chapel, with a tumbe on the left syde.” Carew’s
and Norden’s accounts of Tintagell castle are nearly similar; the latter
of these, indeed, appears to have been taken from the former. “Half the
buildings,” says Carew, “were raised on the continent, and the other
halfe on an iland, continued together (within men’s remembrance) by a
drawebridge, but now divorced by the downefaln steepe cliffes, on the
farther side, which, though it shut out the sea from his wonted
recourse, hath yet more strengthened the iland; for in passing thither
you must first descend with a dangerous declyning, and then make a worse
ascent, by a path, through his stickleness occasioning, and through his
steepnesse threatning, the ruine of your life, with the falling of your
foote. At the top, two or three terrifying steps give you entrance to
the hill, which supplieth pasture for sheepe and conyes: upon the same I
saw a decayed chappell. Under the iland runs a cave, through which you
may rowe at full sea, but not without a kinde of horrour at the
uncouthnesse of the place.” Norden is rather more particular in his
description of the ascent to the island “by a very narrow rockye and
wyndinge waye up the steepe sea-clyffe, under which the sea-waves
wallow, and so assayle the foundation of the ile, as may astonish an
unstable mayne to consider the perill, for the least slipp of the foote
sendes the whole bodye into the devouringe sea; and the worste of all is
the highest of all, nere the gate of entraunce into the hill, where the
offensive stones so exposed hang over the head, as while a man
respecteth his footinge, he indaungers his head; and lookinge to save
the head, indaungers the footinge accordinge to the old proverbe;
_Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim_. He must have his eyes
that will scale Tintagell. Most of the iland buyldings are ruyned.” It
appears by the view of Tintagell annexed to Norden’s description, that a
great part of the building on the main land was in his time standing.
The immense height of the cliffs on which these ruins are situated, the
desolated aspect of the surrounding country, and the grandeur of the
ocean raging beneath, all conspire to form a scene truly sublime, and
cannot fail to make a lasting impression on the mind of those who have
visited this interesting spot.
O’er Cornwall’s cliffs the tempests roar’d,
High the screaming Sea Mew soar’d
On Tintagel’s topmast tow’r,
Darksome fell the sleety show’r,
Round the rough Castle shrilly sung
The whistling blast, and wildly flung
On each tall rampart’s thund’ring side
The surges of the trembling tide.
When Arthur rang’d his red-cross ranks,
On conscious Camban’s crimson banks,
By Mordred’s faithless guide decreed,
Beneath a Saxon spear to bleed!
_Wharton’s Poems, p. 95._
After the Conquest, Tintagell Castle became the occasional residence of
several of our English Princes, and here Richard, Earl of Cornwall,
entertained his nephew, David, Prince of Wales, when the latter rebelled
against the King in 1245.
In subsequent centuries, almost within a few years of the commencement
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it had, like other fortresses in this
county, a governor, (being annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall) and was
occasionally used as a state prison. The remains are now fast mouldering
to decay; and in a few years, perhaps, not a vestige will be standing,
to shew where grandeur had once usurped its despotic power.
The _Church_ of Tintagell was formerly appropriated to the abbess and
convent of Fontevralt in Normandy, and having passed in the same manner
as Leighton-Buzzard in Bedfordshire, was given by King Edward IV. to the
collegiate church at Windsor; the Dean and Chapter of which church have
now the great tithes, and are patrons of the vicarage. There were
chapels in this parish dedicated to St. Piran and St. Dennis, besides
that in the castle of Tintagell.
At Tintagell is a Charity-school, supported by the mayor and free
burgesses, who pay a salary of £10 per annum to the master.
About two miles from hence, over a rocky road, is BOSCASTLE, a small
village, in a very romantic situation. Here a pilchard fishery has been
established some years, but with little success to the adventurers.
The _Quay_ has been greatly improved, and several new buildings
erected.—This place had formerly a _Castle_, the antient residence of
the Bottreaux family; but it was entirely gone prior to Leland’s time.
In the _Church_ is the following epitaph for the Rev. W. Cotton and his
wife, who died within a short time of each other.
Forty-nine years they lived man and wife,
And what’s more rare, thus many without strife,
The first departing, he a few weeks tried
To live without her, could not and so died.
The road from hence to Stratton, is highly pleasing, and presents many
fine prospects of the surrounding country.
The village of ST. MARY WEEK is noticed by Carew, as the birth-place of
_Thomasine Bonaventure_, who, although a poor cottager’s daughter, had
the good fortune to marry for her last husband, (the last of three,) Sir
John Percival, a wealthy merchant, and Lord Mayor of London; at whose
death she became possessed of a large property. She retired to this, her
native village, where she spent the remainder of her life and fortune in
acts of unbounded charity.
STRATTON is a small market town, standing rather in a low situation, 223
miles from London, and 18 from Launceston, but noted in history as the
place where a great victory was obtained during the civil wars by the
King’s forces, in consideration of which, Sir Ralph Hopton was in 1643,
created Lord Hopton of Stratton. The parliamentary force amounted to
upwards of 5000 men, with 13 pieces of ordnance, and although the troops
of the King were very inferior, they fought with such desperate fury,
that the enemy were completely defeated, their baggage, ammunition and
ordnance, being all lost. A few years after the death of Lord Hopton,
Sir John Berkeley was created Baron Berkeley of Stratton, but the title
became extinct in 1773. In the year 1797, Lord de Dunstanville was
created Baron Basset of Stratton, with remainder to his daughter and her
issue male.[35]
The market is on Tuesday, and there are here held three fairs annually.
The former appears to have been held by prescription: it is for corn and
provisions. Camden states this parish to have been famous for gardens
and garlick: there are now no gardens in the neighbourhood, but such as
are cultivated for private use, nor is it remarkable for the culture of
garlick, although it is occasionally to be seen in the market, where it
is purchased by the cattle doctors.
The manors of Stratton and Binamy belonged, at an early period, to an
antient family, called in various records, De Albo Monasterio,
Blanchminster, and Whitminster. Sir John de Blanchminster dying without
issue, towards the latter part of the fourteenth century, these estates
passed to Emmeline, only daughter and heir to Sir Richard Hiwis, who had
married Alice, daughter of Sir Ralph de Blanchminster, and aunt of Sir
John: this Emmeline first married Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of
the King’s Bench, and after his death, Sir John Coleshill, to whom Guy
de Blanchminster, rector of Lansallos, released in 1393 all right in the
manors of Stratton, Binamy, &c. Sir John Coleshill, son of the above,
who was killed in the battle of Agincourt in 1415, left an infant son;
after whose death, in 1483, the large estates of this family passed by a
female heir to a younger branch of the Arundells, soon extinct, and were
afterwards in severalties among its numerous representatives. The manors
of Binamy and Stratton, having been purchased by the Grenville family,
passed with the Kilkhampton estate, and are now the property of Lord
Carteret. Binamy Castle, which appears to have been built by Ralph de
Blanchminster, in or about the year 1335, is spoken of as a seat of the
Coleshills by William of Worcester, who made a tour through Cornwall in
the reign of Edward IV. Borlase describes the house of the
Blanchminsters as having been situated half a mile from Stratton, and a
furlong from the antient causeway made by that family: on this estate,
now called Binhamy, is a farm-house, a little to the west of which is a
moated orchard, described in Camden’s map as a square fort, and called
Binnoway.
The _Church_ contains several antient memorials, one of which, with the
effigy of a knight in armour, is supposed to be intended for Ralph de
Blanchminster, who was Lord of the Manor at a very early period. In the
parish-register occurs the following remarkable instance of
longevity:—“Elizabeth Cornish, widow, buried March 10th, 1691. This
Elizabeth Cornish was baptized in October, 1578: her father’s name was
John Veale: she was, when she died, in the 114th year, having lived at
least 113 years, four months, and 15 days.” It appears also by the
register, that not less than 153 persons died of the plague in this
small town, in the year 1547: and in 1729, out of 49 persons buried, 42
fell victims to that destructive distemper the small-pox.
The lands given to the church of Stratton, for the maintenance of the
poor of the parish are very considerable, and chiefly vested in eight
persons, who have the appropriation of the rent of them.—There is also
in the church, the following epitaph, to the memory of one of these
eight trustees, and which is rather a curious piece of composition.
Near by this place interr’d does lye,
One of the eight whose memory
Will last, and fragrant be to all posterity.
He did revive the Stock and Store,
He built the Almshouse for the poor;
Manag’d so well was the revenue ne’er before.
The Church he lov’d and beautified,
His highest glory and his pride,
The sacred Altar shews his private zeale besides.
A Book he left for all to view,
The accounts which are both just and true;
His owne discharge, and a good precedent for you.
Be silent then of him who’s gone,
Touch not I mean, an imperfection,
For he a pardon has from the Almighty throne.
Look to your ways, each to his trust,
That when you thus are laid in dust,
Your actions may appear as righteous and as just.
About two miles north from Stratton, is the small port of BUDE, which is
much resorted to in the summer season for sea-bathing. The trade of this
place will be greatly increased when the _Canal_, now making, is
completed: the chief exports are timber, bark, and oats; the imports,
coal and lime-stone from Wales, and groceries, &c., from Bristol. The
harbour, on account of its sands, is best adapted to vessels not
exceeding 60 tons burden: but occasionally, vessels of from 80 to 90
tons enter it; and one of more than 90 tons was built at Bude in 1813
for the trade of this port. Great quantities of sea sand are carried
from hence for manure, not only into the neighbouring parishes, but into
the north of Devonshire, to the distance of 20 miles and upwards.
KILKHAMPTON, about four miles north of East Stratton, is remarkable for
the singular beauty of its _Church_. It is a large edifice, said to have
been erected by a Baron of the Grenville line, who came into England
with William the Conqueror, and whose arms are sculptured in many parts
of the building.
The whole fabric is a light and rich piece of workmanship, particularly
the southern entrance, a semicircular arch, round which is a very
curious zig-zag Anglo-Norman moulding, in fine preservation. The
interior contains three aisles, divided by slender pillars, supporting
obtuse Gothic arches, and has an elegant appearance. It is embellished
with several handsome memorials, but the most remarkable one is, the
monument of Sir Beville Grenville,[36] who was slain in the civil wars;
and as Hervey says, “swords and spears, murdering engines and
instruments of slaughter, adorn the stone with formidable magnificence.”
It bears the following inscription:
“Here lyes all that was mortal of the most noble and truly valiant Sir
Beville Grenville, of Stowe, in the county of Cornwall, Earl of Corbill,
and Lord of Thorigny and Grenville, in France and Normandy, descended in
a direct line from Robert, second son of the war-like Rollo, first Duke
of Normandy, who, after having obtained divers signal victories over the
rebels in the West, was at length slain, with many wounds, at the battle
of Lansdowne, July 5, 1643. He married the most virtuous Lady, Grace,
daughter of Sir George Smith, of the county of Devon, by whom he had
many sons, eminent for their loyalty and firm adherence to the crown and
church; and several daughters, remarkable examples of true piety. He was
indeed an excellent person, whose activity, interest, and reputation,
were the foundation of what had been done in Cornwall; his temper and
affections so public, that no accident which happened could make any
impression upon him, and his example kept others from taking any thing
ill, or at least seeming to do so. In a word a higher courage and a
gentler disposition were never married together, to make the most
cheerful and innocent conversation.”
“To the immortal memory of his renowned grandfather, this monument was
erected by the Right Honourable George Lord Lansdowne, Treasurer of the
Household to Queen Anne, and one of Her Majesty’s most honourable Privy
Council, &c., in the year 1714.”
“Thus slain thy valiant ancestor[37] did lye,
When his one bark a navy did defy,
When now encompass’d round the victor stood,
And bath’d his pinnace in his conqu’ring blood,
Till all his purple current dryed and spent,
He fell, and made the waves his monument:
Where shall the next famed Granville’s ashes stand.
Thy grandsire fills the seas, and thou the land.”
MARTIN LLEWELLIN.
_Vide Oxford University Verses, printed 1643._[38]
Clarendon, in his History of the Rebellion, speaks of Sir Beville
Grenville’s death as “that which would have clouded any victory, and
made the loss of others less spoken of: and the monument is indebted to
that noble author’s own words for all the latter part of the panegyric
it is so properly intended to perpetuate.
The _Pulpit_ is a rich piece of carved work, and the _Font_ very
antient.
The magnificent and old residence of the Grenville family, called
_Stowe_, in this parish, has been pulled down many years, and the park
dismantled. It was one of the most superb residences in England, and the
beauty of the grounds and scenery adjacent, have been frequently
eulogized. John Grenville, Earl of Bath in the reign of Charles II.,
erected it. It stood on an eminence, overlooking a well-wooded valley;
but not a tree near it, says Dr. Borlase, to shelter it from the
north-west. That writer speaks of it as by far the noblest house in the
west of England, and says that the kitchen offices fitted up for a
dwelling-house, made no contemptible figure. It is a singular
circumstance, that the cedar wainscot, which had been brought out of a
Spanish prize, and used by the Earl of Bath for fitting up the chapel in
this mansion, was purchased by Lord Cobham at the time of its demolition
(the house being then sold piecemeal) and applied to the same purpose at
Stowe, the magnificent seat of the noble family of Grenville in
Buckinghamshire, where it still remains.
Kilkhampton is noticed in history, as the place where the renowned and
pious Harvey conceived his Meditations among the Tombs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCURSION III.
_From Stratton to Bodmin; through Launceston, Callington, Saltash,
St. Germains, and Liskeard._
The country between Stratton and Launceston, a distance of 12 miles,
does not present anything requiring particular notice, except perhaps,
within a few miles of the latter place bordering on Devon, _Werrington
Park_, the seat of his Grace, the Duke of Northumberland. The house is
rather a low building, and in point of architecture, is by no means
imposing. The situation of the park, however, is particular fine, being
highly diversified and embellished with some of the finest trees and
foliage in the kingdom.
On entering St. Stephen’s, the attention of the traveller is immediately
arrested by the handsome appearance of its _Church_, which is
embellished with a handsome _Gothic Tower_, of great height. This
edifice was rebuilt in the sixteenth century, and before the Conquest,
was made collegiate; but suppressed through the influence of William
Warlewast, Bishop of Exeter, who founded a Priory of Austin Monks in the
adjoining parish of St. Thomas. This continued until the dissolution of
religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII., when its annual revenues
were valued at 354£. 0_s._ 11½_d._; yet not a vestige of it has been in
existence for many years.
A most interesting view of Launceston presents itself from the bridge of
Newport, and the _Keep_ of its venerable castle rises with awful dignity
over the surrounding houses. The accompanying view is taken from the
position alluded to.
Newport _Church_, generally called St. Thomas, is a small fabric of a
very antient appearance, and here are several decayed houses, which
exhibit the nature of domestic architecture a few centuries past.[39]
After ascending a steep hill, and passing through the north gate, stands
LAUNCESTON, one of the most antient towns in the county, on the great
western road to the Land’s End, distant 214 miles from London. This town
ranks as one of the principal in the county, and from the influence it
formerly possessed, from being fortified with a noble castle and
embattled walls, it has enjoyed in early reigns, many privileges and
immunities; but was not, however, incorporated until the reign of Queen
Mary, in the year 1555. It has returned members to Parliament, however,
since the reign of Edward I. The right of election is in the Corporation
and free Burgesses.
The assizes for the county were formerly held wholly in this town; but
an act was passed in the first of George I. to empower the proper
authorities to hold the summer assizes at Bodmin.
The magnificent ruins of the _Castle_ are still highly interesting to
the antiquary, and few subjects are better calculated for the pencil of
the artist; their form being highly picturesque, and which are highly
pleasing from being richly over-grown with ivy. The accompanying view
exhibits the remains of the principal entrance, with the majestic and
venerable keep rising above, together with the walls now fast falling to
decay.